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The death of Armita Geravand

16-year-old Iranian Armita Geravand died on October 28. Four weeks earlier, she boarded the subway in Tehran with two friends. A short time later they pulled their unconscious friends out of the car. Armita was taken to hospital and remained in a coma until her death.

Images show her entering the metro without the legally required headscarf. According to the exiled human rights organization Hengaw, there was a confrontation with the moral police. Armita fell during the argument and hit her head.

Regime authorities subsequently claimed that she had fainted due to low blood pressure. Proving this should be easy, as the subway cars are equipped with surveillance cameras. But no recordings have been released yet.

Maryam Lotfia reporter from the Iranian daily “Shargh” (in German: Osten), which is close to the political reform camp, had been arrestedwhen she interviewed Armita’s mother in the hospital. According to her colleagues and superiors, she was held for 24 hours.

Similarity with the Mahsa Amini case

Much of what has happened in recent weeks is reminiscent of the death of the Iranian Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini. On September 16, 2022, she died as a result of injuries inflicted on her in police custody – a hospital report spoke of traumatic brain injury. The 22-year-old was arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s dress code.

However, there are similarities between the two cases, not only in terms of age and cause of death, but also in the way the regime authorities treated the journalists who reported on the cases.

Niloofar Hamedi Like Maryam Lotfi, she worked for the reformist daily ‘Shargh’. On September 16, she already drew attention to Jina Mahsa Amini. She went to the hospital where she was and published a photo of Amini’s parents on Twitter the same day. This spread internationally – protests began in Iran shortly afterwards. Just days later, Hamedi was arrested and taken to Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison.

Just over a week ago, Hamedi was arrested by a revolutionary court in Tehran sentenced to 13 years in prison. She was accused of ‘collaboration with the United States’ and convicted of alleged ‘national security violations’.

Also Elaheh Mohammadi was arrested for her reporting on Amini’s death. She covered the funeral of Jina Mahsa Amini from her hometown of Saqqez. Mohammadi worked for the reformist newspaper “Ham-Mihan” (in German: Landsmann/Landsfrau), for which she reported on social issues and women’s rights.

Like Hamedi, Mohammadi was also convicted of alleged “collaboration with the US” and “violations of national security” – in her case, twelve years in prison. An appeal is possible against both verdicts.

Support inside and outside Iran

As early as October 2022 more than 300 journalists working in Iran for the release of Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi. The statement was published by the reformist newspaper ‘Etemad’ (in German: Trust), for which Hamedi and Mohammadi had also previously worked. Other Iranian newspapers also reported about it.

There were several tributes to the two journalists outside Iran. ‘Time’ magazine listed her among those in 2023 100 most influential people. They both received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Narges Mohammadi, who also received the Nobel Peace Prize this year “Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize” from UNESCO – this is awarded annually to people who promote press freedom in a special way, often in danger. Among other international awards, Elaheh Mohammadi also received honorary citizenship of the city of Turin.

The state of press freedom in Iran

Every year, the organization Reporters Without Borders publishes a ranking of countries based on press freedom. This year, Iran is on the rise Rank 177 out of 180only Vietnam, China and North Korea perform worse. They are current in Iran 20 journalists jailed.

Iran-based media is largely controlled by the Islamist regime, which is why many Iranians get their information from Iranian media in exile. There have been repeated arbitrary arrests of journalists in Iran – in politically motivated processes They are often sentenced to years in prison by revolutionary courts.

The Islamic Republic’s de facto head of state, Ali Khamenei, regularly claims that the exiled media is manipulated by enemies such as the United States. The Iranian judiciary is under his control. Article 24 of the constitution effectively guarantees freedom of the press, but a 1986 law, which was extended to online media in 2000 and 2009, severely restricts journalistic work.

The media must not publish anything that endangers the Islamic Republic or insults the mullahs or the Supreme Leader. They are also not allowed to “spread false information”. This opens the door for authoritarian regime authorities to shape reporting as they wish.